


Waiting

by rasrafmek



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 06:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23467087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rasrafmek/pseuds/rasrafmek
Summary: If it’s for the right person, waiting isn’t hard at all.(Or: Five times Dongho and Jonghyun waited for each other, and the one time they waited together.)
Relationships: Kang Dongho | Baekho/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	1. 1st year, Spring

**Author's Note:**

> A quick drabble inspired by JBaek saying they are the type to wait for someone, and that maybe they're just waiting for each other!

Dongho, like any other high school student, had been looking forward to university life.

He was not the bookish type—he had always preferred sports and music. But as he and his best friend, Jonghyun, prepared for college entrance tests, he found himself liking studying maybe just a bit more. 

“Jonghyun-ah, what course will you take?” he asks one day, as they take a break from all the practice exams.

Jonghyun pauses for a while, deep in thought. “I’m thinking of taking psychology as a pre-law.”

“Psychology, huh? Seems nice, too,” Dongho mumbles, as he flips the pen in his hand.

“Hey, Dongho-yah, don’t choose your course based on mine!” Jonghyun scolds, and Dongho’s response is a cheeky grin.

“Who ever said anything about me choosing it because you chose it? I’m choosing psych since I like the topic!”

“I would’ve guessed you would choose music, though,” Jonghyun retorts. 

Dongho responds with a wave of his hand. “I do love music, but I want to keep it as a hobby. Seems like you don’t know me as well as you think you do, Jonghyun-ah,” he taunts.

Jonghyun’s response is a light smack on Dongho’s arm, before he nudges Dongho to go back to answering his mock exam.

\--

Their countless hours of studying for the CETs bore fruit, as the two managed to make it to their dream course in the same university in Seoul. All seemed well, but there was yet another unexpected hurdle to Dongho’s university life.

“It appears there was a mix up in the online pre-enlistment system,” was the university registrar’s reply to Dongho, as he inquired about his missing course units. “You’ll have to sort this out manually, sorry.”

“Manually?” Dongho asked, as he placed his documents back in his folder.

“Yes, you’ll have to ask each professor to manually enlist you, since the online system is closed for now. I’m sorry for the hassle, but this happens sometimes,” the registrar says with a frown.

A disgruntled look is on Dongho’s face as he walks toward Jonghyun, who was seated at a nearby bench.

“What happened? Can’t they fix it?”

“She says I’ll have to ask each prof to enlist me in their class,” Dongho says with a sigh. “You’re almost done enrolling, right? You can go ahead if you want to, it’ll take me a while.”

Jonghyun shakes his head in response. “I’ll go with you, I don’t have anything else planned for today aside from enrolling and going around campus.”

“Are you sure?” Dongho asks in a small voice. “I really don’t mind if you want to go home early.”

Jonghyun stands up, and takes Dongho’s documents from his grasp. “Let’s see here, first stop is psychology department, then we can head over to the literature and biology departments. The sooner we get going, the faster we’ll finish, Dongho-yah.”

Their whole afternoon was spent looking for professors, and waiting for paperwork to be processed. But with Jonghyun’s company, perhaps his day wasn’t so bad after all, Dongho thinks.

\--

Upon finally getting home, Dongho recounts the whole ordeal to his mother—from how the online system had mixed up his units, to how Jonghyun had gone with him from department to department, to process his enrollment.

“Jonghyunnie is such a sweet boy, his parents raised him well,” Dongho’s mother says after hearing the whole tale.

“He really didn’t have to, but he still went through all the hassle with me! It made everything better,” Dongho replies. “I’m lucky to have him as my best friend.”

“One of these days, invite him over for a meal, won’t you? I’ll have to show my gratitude to him for taking care of my son.”


	2. 2nd year, Summer

They had completely different schedules during their second year, yet Jonghyun and Dongho remained as close as ever. So it wasn’t a surprise that Dongho’s friends became Jonghyun’s friends, and vice-versa.

Yet while they did go drinking with their friends every once in a while, Jonghyun was still an introvert at heart, always preferring to head home early. Dongho himself wouldn’t mind staying longer, but he would likewise head home the moment Jonghyun said he had enough drinks for the night.

It was similarly hard to drag Jonghyun out of his house on the weekends. They joined the occasional road trip organized by their favorite sunbae, Aron, but other than that, their weekends were mostly spent at each other’s house, with Jonghyun playing his mobile games and Dongho listening to music and scrolling through social media on the couch.

And so it took Dongho by surprise when he opened a message from Jonghyun that read: [Are you free this weekend? Let’s go somewhere!]

Dongho quickly types up his reply of: [Sure, where?] 

His phone buzzes a few minutes later. [Comic Con. If it’s okay with you. Otherwise it’s fine, I can go alone.]

“Jonghyun-ah, do you think I’m that cold hearted?” Dongho chuckles under his breath, as he replies with: [Of course it’s fine with me.]

\--

It’s only 8 in the morning, yet the sun beat down relentlessly on the two of them as they stood in line for the convention to open.

“Are you still okay, Dongho? Sorry for dragging you out so early, but if we go here any later everything would be sold out,” Jonghyun says as he points his handheld fan at Dongho’s face. 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” Dongho replies, trying to stifle a yawn. He wipes his sweat with a hand towel. 

Seeing worry still etched on Jonghyun’s face, Dongho continues with, “You’ve been looking forward to Comic Con for so long! Least I could do is go with you, so just enjoy!”

A few minutes later, the queue finally moves, and they’re ushered inside the convention hall. The cool air from the air conditioners blasting at full power is a welcome change from the stifling heat outside. 

Jonghyun grabs Dongho’s hand, to Dongho’s surprise. Seeing the confused look on Dongho’s face, Jonghyun laughs, before explaining with, “There’s a lot of people and cell service is weak here in the venue, I don’t want to lose you in the crowd, Dongho-yah. I hope it’s fine with you.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Dongho replies, as he playfully squeezes Jonghyun’s hand in return.

They stand in line for hours—waiting for merchandise and waiting for their turn to take pictures with some cosplayers. But Dongho doesn’t notice the passage of time, not with Jonghyun beaming so brightly beside him.

By the end of the day, his feet hurt, and he’s 50,000 won poorer from buying Jonghyun a figurine, but just being able to hold Jonghyun’s hand the whole day makes it all worth it, Dongho thinks.

\--

“So you’re saying Dongho went with you to Comic Con?” Taeyong asks Jonghyun, eyes wide. “And for the whole day, at that?”

Jonghyun nods in response. “He said he had fun too. He didn’t buy anything for himself, but he did get me a Squirtle figurine, since he said it was cute.” 

“That’s true friendship. Or should I say true love?” he nudges playfully at Jonghyun.

“He’s my best friend, after all. Of course he’d go with me,” Jonghyun waves his hand dismissively. “Don’t read too much into it, Taeyong-ah.”

“Yeah sure, don’t forget to invite me to the wedding,” Taeyong says with a grin, as Jonghyun rolls his eyes.


	3. 3rd year, Fall

At the start of the Fall semester of their junior year, a notice catches Jonghyun’s attention. The words [Extramural music classes for non-music majors: T Th 4-6pm] are printed on the flyer.

Jonghyun quickly messages Dongho with: [Dongho-yah, there are extramural music classes starting this sem, you might be interested.]

He takes a picture of the flyer, and sends it to Dongho as well.

It doesn’t take long for Dongho to reply with: [This seems interesting, should I go for it?]

[Of course! I think it’ll be fun for you.]

Jonghyun sends a motivating sticker after his message for good measure.

That same day, Jonghyun drags Dongho over to the music department, to make sure he signs up for the class.

\--

Dongho ends up enjoying his music classes even more than he expected. The professor, Bumzu, is a recent graduate of their university, and while he is always friendly to his students, he provides constructive critiques of his students’ compositions.

“You make really unique melodies, Dongho,” Bumzu tells Dongho as he looks over the melody that Dongho had written up. “And you have a nice vocal tone as well. It’s not too late to switch over to the music department,” he says, half-joking.

Dongho laughs in reply. “I’m flattered you think that, Bumzu-hyung, but you just teach really well.”

“What a teacher’s pet,” his underclassman Jihoon remarks, and the three of them burst into laughter.

\--

It quickly became a routine for Jonghyun to wait for Dongho on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a nearby café. While waiting, Jonghyun worked on his coursework—typing up papers and reading up on lectures to pass the time. On the rare days where he’d have little to no assignments due the next day, he would read manga on his laptop or watch anime.

Dongho would usually be at the café by 5 to 10 minutes past 6. He would immediately bring out his laptop and share his earphones with Jonghyun, for the two of them to listen to his latest compositions. Even though he had no technical training in music, Jonghyun could tell that Dongho’s compositions were good. They were always dynamic, and each tune was distinct.

“This is really good!” is Jonghyun’s usual reaction, which he meant every single time.

“Jonghyun-ah, you say that all the time,” Dongho would reply with a laugh, even as his heart warms at the compliment.

After half an hour or so of listening to music, Jonghyun would help Dongho finish his coursework for the day, before the two headed home by around 8 or 9.

Even if he got home later than usual these days, Jonghyun didn’t mind. It was well worth the wait to see the happiness and pride on Dongho’s face whenever he complimented his latest composition.

\--

“I passed by Jonghyun on the way here, he’s sitting by the corridor. Is he waiting for you, Dongho?” Jihoon asks as he places his books and files on a nearby table.

Dongho glances at his watch; it was already 20 minutes past 6. “Oh, I’ll have to wrap things up for today, Bumzu-hyung. I’ll work on the composition at home for now.” Dongho shoves his music sheets and laptop in his bag, and swings the backpack over his shoulder. He’s on his way out the door in a minute.

“Do they go home together?” Jihoon asks Bumzu once Dongho is out of earshot.

At this, Bumzu gives a wide smile. “Each and every single time.”

“Wow, how long will it take those two to put things together,” Jihoon mumbles, as he sits in front of the computer.

“Let them take their time, they’re happy as is,” Bumzu hums as he swivels in his chair. 


	4. 4th year, Winter

Senior year is soon upon Dongho and Jonghyun. It is the same routine for the two as it had been for the past three years, with them spending time between and after classes with each other; though the added workload of thesis units led to more sleepless nights and more caffeine consumed.

Every other day, they met up with Minhyun and Minki, their other thesis groupmates, to work on their project. It was decided early on that Minhyun would take care of the RRL, Minki was in charge of data collection, Dongho would be the one to analyze their data, while Jonghyun would work with everyone on their respective parts as the leader.

“Thesis is such a hassle,” Minki bemoans, as he stares at the stack of survey forms he had to distribute. “Why did I choose psych again? If I knew I was gonna have to force 200 people to answer surveys, I would have dropped school to become an idol.”

“It won’t be so bad,” Jonghyun says with a shrug. “You’re pretty good at convincing people, you’ll probably finish handing those out sooner than you expect. We’re counting on you, Minki-ah.”

“That’s our reliable leader for you,” Minhyun, says with a grin. “Stop complaining and start distributing them, Minki.”

At this, Minki rolls his eyes at Minhyun. He takes a pile of surveys with him, and shouts out “Don’t miss me too much!” on his way out the room.

Their thesis group was always bickering, and Minki threatened to shave them all bald at one point, but they managed to submit their thesis ahead of the deadline. Having submitted their thesis, the rest of the second semester passed by quickly, with them just finishing up their last few lecture classes.

\--

A couple of weeks before graduation, Dongho was walking over to his next class when he received a text from Kyulkyung that said: [Jonghyun’s in the infirmary!]

Dongho quickly rushes to the infirmary. He is out of breath and drenched in sweat by the time he reaches the infirmary, having run the whole way.

“Is Kim Jonghyun here? What happened?” he asks the nurse, who was taken aback by the panic on Dongho’s face.

The nurse leads the way to the infirmary bed in which Jonghyun was lying down, with his foot wrapped in bandages.

“Jonghyun, what happened to your foot?” Dongho asks, as he sits down by the side of the bed to catch his breath.

“I tripped and sprained my ankle,” Jonghyun says sheepishly, “But other than that I’m fine!”

Dongho makes a tutting sound as he says, “Jonghyun-ah, clumsy as always. I almost had a heart attack when Kyulkyung said you’re in the infirmary.”

“Sorry for making you worry.”

“I’m just kidding, I’m just glad you’re fine,” Dongho quickly backtracks. “Can you stand or walk?”

“Yeah, I can,” Jonghyun says, even as he winces upon standing up.

Seeing this, Dongho crouches down, and motions for Jonghyun to ride on his back.

Jonghyun quickly protests with, “Dongho-ah, I can walk!”

“It’s best to keep the pressure off your foot so it heals faster. You wouldn’t want to be on crutches for graduation, would you? Come on, I’ll bring you home,” Dongho says, and Jonghyun relents, holding tight to Dongho as the latter carries him on his back.

For the next couple of weeks, Dongho wakes up earlier than usual to go to Jonghyun’s house, where he waits for Jonghyun to get ready so that they could take the train together to get to their university.

\--

“Jonghyunnie, you ready to go? Your boyfriend’s waiting in the living room, mom let him in already,” his sister tells Jonghyun as he gets his crutches.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Jonghyun says, cheeks flushed bright red.

“Yet,” his sister says with a grin, “Better move faster Jonghyunnie, you can’t sit around waiting for Dongho forever. It’s been what, ten years?”

“If it’s for Dongho, I don’t mind waiting,” Jonghyun mumbles.

“Hm, what was that?”

“Nothing!” Jonghyun replies, as he uses his crutches to walk out the door to meet up with Dongho.


	5. Graduation, Spring

The days prior to graduation pass by quickly.

Monday was spent with their favorite _sunbae_ , Aron, who invited the two to join him at a nearby dog café. In between giving the dogs much warranted pets and hugs, Aron mentions to the two that he would be flying back to the US soon.

“Don’t forget us,” Jonghyun says with his best impression of puppy dog eyes, at which Aron laughs.

“Of course I won’t! You guys are my favorite kids, I’ll make sure to fly by Korea from time to time.” A fond smile is on Aron’s face.

“We’ll message you all the time so that you won’t forget,” Dongho quips, as he and Jonghyun both give Aron a hug.

The following Tuesday was spent touring around Itaewon with Kyulkyung, who was headed back to China the following week.

“Let’s keep in touch, okay! Visit me in Shanghai, I’ll show you guys around!” Kyulkyung is teary eyed as she says goodbye to them by the end of the day.

The two hug her, and Jonghyun hands her a tissue to wipe her eyes with.

“We’ll let you know if ever we’re in China. Visit us here sometime too, okay?” Dongho tells her, as he himself tries not to cry.

\--

On Wednesday, the day before graduation, they opted not to meet with other friends, instead opting for dinner with each other. Jonghyun volunteers to choose the restaurant, and Dongho relents.

“This is a pretty fancy place you booked for us, Jonghyun-ah,” Dongho says as he looks around the interior of the restaurant. Jonghyun had reserved a table for the two of them at a rather upscale and well-known steakhouse. “Isn’t this a bit too fancy for the two of us? It’s almost like a date,” Dongho grins as he nudges Jonghyun.

“Well you see, I, um—” Jonghyun stammers. After taking a deep breath, he continues with, “I love you, Dongho, I always have. I’ve had enough of waiting.”

Dongho is taken by surprise at Jonghyun’s confession, but quickly composes himself. “Close your eyes, Jonghyun-ah,” he says.

Jonghyun follows, closing his eyes as he awaits Dongho’s response. Dongho’s reply is a short and sweet kiss on his lips, followed by a tender caress to Jonghyun’s cheek.

“I’ve been waiting ten years to say that I love you, Jonghyun-ah. Maybe I should’ve been a bit more impatient so I could beat you to confessing first,” Dongho’s smile reaches his eyes.

Jonghyun pulls Dongho in for another kiss, and Dongho could feel Jonghyun’s smile against his own lips.

\--

After the graduation ceremony, Jonghyun and Dongho went for some drinks and karaoke with their closest friends.

After Minki’s moving performance of “Born this way”, he handed the microphone over to Jonghyun. “Your turn! And Dongho,” Minki gives Dongho a pointed look, “you’re not allowed to sing for his turn.”

Jonghyun pouts, and Dongho pats his back.

“Okay, I’ll give you options,” Minki says, as a devilish grin slowly makes its way across his face. “You can sing any song, or you can say a special confession to a certain someone in this room.”

“Hey Minki, you promised not to interfere, remember?” Minhyun says in a hushed whisper.

“About that, I, um, did that yesterday? Dongho and I are together now?” Jonghyun says sheepishly, as he quickly turns red from the neck up.

“Okay, pay up,” Seungcheol laughs, as Jeonghan and Minhyun dig into their pockets to hand 50,000 won each to Minki, Joshua, and Seungcheol. 

“You made a bet on that? I can’t believe you guys!” Dongho exclaims.

“It was the only way we could deal with our frustration at you two!” Minhyun rebuts, as he puts his wallet back in his pocket. “You should’ve waited one more day before confessing, I would’ve been 150,000 won richer.”

“That’s what you get for betting against us, Minhyun-ah,” Dongho taunts, as his laughter reverberates throughout the karaoke booth.

\--

“Finally” was most people’s response to Jonghyun and Dongho’s announcement that they had gotten together.

“To think no one’s surprised, not even one person. Were we that easy to read?” Dongho turns to look at Jonghyun, as he received yet another “Congratulations, it was about time” text message from yet another friend of theirs.

“Apparently,” Jonghyun shrugs. “Minki sent me a text saying we were both obviously idiots in love. And that they were about to pull an intervention if we didn’t get together by graduation.”

“Nice to know our friends are looking out for us, I guess,” Dongho says with a laugh, as he pulls Jonghyun closer to him.


	6. Vacation, Summer

Before Dongho started with his job, and before the start of Jonghyun’s term in law school, they decided to go on a trip to Dongho’s hometown in Jeju, where he had grown up before his family moved to Seoul.

“It’s been a while since I last visited, but it’s a beautiful place, Jonghyun-ah. Visiting the beach is really healing! Oh, and the food’s really good,” Dongho exclaimed, brimming with excitement.

Jonghyun did not need much convincing, and so they quickly booked flight tickets to Jeju Island.

\--

They arrived at the airport early—3 hours before departure time, lest they miss their flight. Upon reaching the check-in counter, however, they saw a notice that their flight was delayed by an hour.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have rushed, now we’d have to wait an extra hour,” Dongho mumbled.

Jonghyun shrugged and smiled at Dongho. “Waiting is fine. It’s part of the fun as long as I’m with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing jbaek is always fun. <3


End file.
